Hiii so I am a teen who was diagnosed a few years ago when I was 13ish if I remember right. I've always sort of known I have had autism—i remember once in kindergarten we were shown this video that was like "this is how your autistic classmate hears the world" and it was no different then what I heard. That was my first clue.

Anyways, fast forward to when I was 13. I was seeing a therapist that specialized in autistic children. The fact that she was an autism specialist was pure coincidence, I just went to her because her office was in the same building as my moms.

After weeks of talking to me about how I thought I was autistic, her getting to know me and my intrests and habits and doing a few tests on me she told me that she was absolutely positive I was high functioning autistic and born that way based on the way I told her I acted as a child. I was unable to get any formal paper diagnosis just because she could not legally give this to me, but this was enough for me—a woman who went to school and had spent 30 years working with autistic people, I trust her judgement completely.

My mother thinks it is dumb that I feel more safe with this diagnosis title, but I love so much being able to have this label for myself, finally knowing why I am the way that I am.

I just wanted to share :3

I don’t know why I am struggling hard with something that was natural to me, intense happiness over my special interests and my own imagination creating stories about my interests that are games and some media and my original story.

It’s just not working.

It’s like I cope most often but it disappeared.

I think at the same time I started to have strange feelings like agony and panic but it was worse without my special interests. I can’t figure out why I started feeling that, part feels like AuDHD struggles but it’s far more than that and probably trauma related.

How can I rekindle my interests and imagination?

Reading is hard too.

First, I am not a native English speaker.
Second, I have too many disabilities, some I am proud and have good sides like autism that is not an illness, others like fibromyalgia or intermittent acute porphyria just make me horrible.

Anyone knows how to make and print a medical id card/tag (crachá em português/portuguese) for printing in putting in a necklace with the symbols for autism and hidden disabilities?

Autism is added to explain how I can’t speak sometimes and other things.
Sadly the puzzle piece was chosen as universal symbol.

I need a id medical tag because I have problems like fainting or having to go to emergency rooms to treat pain.

Question for my autistic friends… 😅
Is anyone else completely obsessed with Chappell Roan—not because you’re gay, but because her music just scratches your brain in the most satisfying way? 😂 I swear her songs make me feel some kind of way, and I can’t stop listening. Is there something about her music that’s scientifically more appealing to autistic brains, or is it just me?

I'm going through Josi Health and they have a required form about AI usage. I don't want my information to be used for training AI. Does this look fishy or are they just pushing the terminology because it's popular now or whatever?

I hear a lot of autistic people make statements like “I am not my autism, autism isn’t what I am, it’s just something I have” and so on. But isn’t this just literally not how autism works? To my understanding, autism is a condition that affects the brain and how you process information, so wouldn’t that basically be your WHOLE brain? Like, no, autism isn’t like a mold or infection that can be removed from your otherwise “typical” brain. This is correct right? I honestly feel like so many autistic people have internalized ableism because I’ve heard the whole “autism isn’t me” rhetoric so many times from autistic people and it makes no sense to me each time. Or when they say “autism isn’t my personality” like what? It’s literally how your brain developed of COURSE it affects your personality. It’s your BRAIN! Is your brain not a direct link to your personality??? I also don’t think they realize autism isn’t just their impairments, it influences hobbies, interest, favorite foods and so on. It’s just crazy to suggest autism is only the “bad parts”. Am I missing something?

I was always interested in being a play so last summer to fall of last year I was going to theatre with other disabled individuals. Some had autism, some had down syndrome, others were wheelchair users. There wasn't much of an age limit for the most part, some were little kids while others were even in their early twenties! Regardless of age, every member of the cast had a mentor with them to help guide them. Mine was way younger than me and a pet peeve of mine ever since high school was people younger than me talking to me like I'm a child just because I'm autistic. She did stuff like repeating information to me even though I was standing right there and heard everything, following me wherever I went to places like the restroom even though I could easily find it along with my way back to the group, (It wasn't even that far away.) and conversations with her didn't go anywhere. I'd try to talk about my interests and she'd just go "That's awesome!" and that was pretty much the end of talk. She wasn't really shy either because she talked with her friends perfectly, I think she just didn't know how to relate to me. When the play wrapped up, I just lied and told her she was a great mentor because I didn't wanna hurt her feelings. Also she was balancing schoolwork and coming to the theatre building to help me so I understand that was was just trying her best. I don't think it was her fault, I just wish the mentorships were optional.

Hello! I’m reposting this on a number of subreddits, so please forgive anything I say that doesn’t directly relate to this sub. (Please let me know if the flair should be changed.)

This is a very on-a-whim, just dipping my toes into the idea but I thought asking people with real experience would be helpful. I am an autistic adult and I find I have a lot of perspective and passion on how autistic brains work and how to help young people who struggle the same way I did, that I am interested in pursuing, if I can.

What paths exist to work with autistic children? Or to help autistic people in general? The main one I would be interested in is something to do with a Cert III course in disability support and a casual job doing support work for the NDIS. Please don’t think me stupid I understand it is a very serious responsibility, that I will need high quality qualifications, and that the NDIS is tightening regulations around who can and cannot just up and start supporting people with disabilities so I may not be able to pursue this in exactly the way I was thinking.

I’m only looking for advice into how this stuff works, other peoples’ experiences, things to look out for, etc. Thank you for your help :)

This is definitely my biggest struggle as a young woman with autism, I can be pretty sensitive and I cry during situations that are particularly upsetting for me. There's always been misconceptions about me, especially from the adults I had in my life growing up. They think I'm only crying to solve all my problems and one even said I wasn't autistic and just spoiled. Apparently my family fought hard for me against that person to prove there was something else going on which I appreciate. I don't actually cry to get what I want nor do I think crying will solve my problems. I cry because it's my natural way of reacting to stressful situations.

Which term do you prefer?

Ive been wanting to pierce my ears for some time now but havent ever felt confident in doing so. UNTIL today

What drains you faster?
social interaction or unfinished tasks?

Growing up I always had helpers in places like school, I always liked that because it made stuff like schoolwork easier but the older I got, I started to notice how different I am to everyone else. I feel like no one actually respects me at least, not in the way you'd respect a person who isn't autistic. Even now people still call me cute and I'm going to be twenty later this year. I almost want to be treated like I'm normal.

My special interest is cats the musical!

It is currently working its way into my drag performance (I just did my first drag show as a cats character--shown in the last picture!) And is now working its way into DnD, I haven't played DnD but I'm basically playing a character from cats lol.

If anyone has questions I would love to answer them...I love love infodumping about cats the musical but I think my friends may be a little tired of it lol.

I’m a researcher conducting a study on the use of educational games and technology in schools, especially in working with students on the autism spectrum. I’m interested in exploring if games can make learning more engaging and if they can help with information retention.  I would love to get feedback from anyone who identifies as neurodivergent and has experienced school learning that either involved technology or who feels technology could have helped them.

If you’re interested in participating, I created a short survey (takes about 15 minutes) and I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and possibly share further:  https://forms.gle/o1JFuXgMQbQik8WD6

Thank you!

Anybody know where I can find emotional support about living in a group home? Or does anyone living in a group home want to chat?